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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-20-16 WRC Final Minutes 1 June 20, 2016 2 Final Meeting Minutes 3 4 Members Attending: 5 Name Representation Jon Negley E Soil & Water Frank Proto E At-Large Elaine Quaroni P At-Large Marjorie Rinaldo-Lee P Environment Michael Thorne A At-Large Brad DeFrees A Associate Member Michelle Henry A Associate Member Roxy Johnston E Associate Member Jose Lozano P Associate Member John Mawdsley A Associate Member Todd Miller P Associate Member Pam Pariso P Planning Staff Steve Penningroth A Associate Member Joanne Trutko P Associate member Tom Vawter E Associate Member Linda Wagenet P Associate Member 7 8 Guests: Scott Doyle, TCPD. 9 Meeting Called to Order – 10 Chairperson Darby called the meeting of the Water Resources Council to order at 4:20 p.m. 11 Agenda Review and Approval of Minutes – 12 There were no changes to the Agenda. Since there was no quorum, there will be a delay in approving the 13 Minutes of the meeting held on May 16, 2016. WRC Minutes are posted at: 14 http://tompkinscountyny.gov/planning under Advisory Boards. 15 Guest Presentation – Joan Jurkowich and Scott Doyle gave a presentation on the Tompkins County 16 Natural Green Infrastructure Program, which is a cost-effective approach to protecting water quality and 17 flood resilience while enhancing and protecting natural systems. Scott reviewed flood damage to 18 Ludlowville and outlined sediment reduction strategies, with a focus on water quality and natural system 19 protection. 20 The Green Infrastructure Program is a comprehensive plan to mitigate flood hazards and help preserve 21 watershed conservation. Its focus is on protecting and enhancing upper watershed areas, stream corridors, 22 floodplains and aquifer recharge areas. This five-year program will run from 2017-2021 and cost $20K 23 year for a total of $1 million. 24 Joan provided detail on of types of projects that might be eligible for funding with this program: 25 • Conservation easements on private forest lands wetlands, and stream corridors, 26 Name Representation Sharon Anderson E Cooperative Extension John Andersson E At-Large James Balyszak P At-Large Fay Benson A Agriculture Chris Bordlemay E Water Purveyor Cynthia Brock P Recreation Ed Bugliosi A USGS ex officio Liz Cameron E T C Environmental Health Sarah Dwyer E At-Large Bill George E Municipal Barry Goodrich P Watershed Organization Joan Jurkowich P TC Planning Dooley Kiefer A Legislature Liaison Darby Kiley P Municipal Lynn Leopold P Municipal Jim McGarry P EMC Liaison TOMPKINS COUNTY WATER RESOURCES COUNCIL 2 • Reconnecting third- and fourth-order streams to their natural floodplains, 27 • Restoration of stream banks and establishing stream buffers to hold sediment, 28 • Demonstration of innovative road ditch management techniques to County highway employees. 29 If the legislature approves this project, funding guidelines and project selection criteria will need to be 30 established, and the WRC will be asked to help with this. 31 Jim McGarry asked why streams are disconnected. Scott said some of it is a natural process and some is 32 manmade, and of the manmade disconnections, some of that is illegal fill. There was a discussion on 33 matching funds, the need for grass root support, landowner resistance, specific targeted areas, easements 34 rather than land ownership and feedback from other committees. Dooley commented that she had just 35 come across Danby’s proposed aquifer protection recharge program, and suggested that could be a help 36 with this project. 37 Cynthia Brock mentioned the Finger Lakes Land Trust and asked if there will be outright limitations. 38 Joan said the County would lean toward easements rather than land ownership. Managing the easements 39 means checking for violations, and that could be an issue. 40 If the County approves this project, the WRC will be asked to help with details and implementation. A 41 committee may be formed specifically to address this. 42 Hydrilla Update – by James Balyszak – Reports have been submitted to the DEC with a 21-day review 43 period. Once they are received in mid-July, inlet treatment will commence with herbicide to combat 44 hydrilla. They are just waiting on permits. The inlet won’t be closed during the treatment process, which 45 will be easier for everyone. Bob Johnson and his team are observing and monitoring. At the southern 46 portion of Cayuga Lake, there is a small hydrilla outbreak which will be treated with physical removal, 47 not herbicide. There is ongoing inlet monitoring. State processes are in place to help fund hydrilla 48 treatment next year. Hopefully there will be additional local funding on top of federal and state funding. 49 Committee Reports – 50 POTENTIAL POLLUTANTS – Jose Lozano said this committee must postpone because people are too 51 overwhelmed right now to work on this. The USDS extended funding, the friends of Cornell are 52 cooperating, but members are overwhelmed with other projects. The group will not dissolve, just 53 postpone. 54 WATERSHED ASSESSMENTS – Joan and Marjorie reported they met to review and reevaluate old 55 watershed assessments. They’re working to identify their purpose. Most watershed assessments are more 56 than ten years old. Flood mitigation was the issue then. Now, maybe the scope needs to be broader. 57 WATERSHED RULES & REGULATIONS – Elaine reported this new committee is not clear on its 58 focus. The old rules and regulations need updating. They are working to define what needs to be done. 59 NOMINATING/MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE –Elaine reported that George Fowler would like to be an 60 associate member of the WRC. He was willing to accept associate membership, and didn’t seem to want 61 to apply for the business seat, which doesn’t preclude him becoming an At-Large member. He’s received 62 the documents for membership and was added to the list. 63 GRANTS – nothing to report. 64 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE – by Darby Kiley – Darby looked at the By-Laws. For the upcoming budget 65 process, everyone needs to give Joan numbers by July 15 if their committees are requesting funds. 66 CAYUGA LAKE MONITORING PARTNERSHIP – meeting was delayed. 67 SOIL HEALTH COMMITTEE – did not meet. 68 3 EDUCATION AND OUTREACH – by Lynn Leopold -- The committee discussed the need for a clean 69 boating brochure. Two possibilities: one is needed just for Tompkins County and another for a much 70 larger project with both Cayuga and Seneca lakes. Need to update the paddling brochure and get it 71 reprinted. Cynthia asked about BOCES printing it through the county. Cynthia Brock said the Canal Corp 72 will be merging with the Power Authority of NYPA, and that provides opportunities for collaboration on 73 clean boating education. They will be combined with tourism, wineries and regional Finger Lakes 74 boating. This will probably not happen until next year. Lynn said clean boating guideline language is now 75 being established. There was a discussion about clean boating and not using lakes for toilet disposal, and 76 educating tourists about this. It is illegal to dump anything into the lake. There’s a total budget of $1,000 77 for this committee and approximately $100 spent. The paddling brochures are gone and the Visitor Center 78 has requesting more. There was a discussion on educating materials without paper. Perhaps a QR smart 79 code could be scanned. Lynn wants $600 for 1,000 color brochures. 80 PIPELINE STREAM – committee hasn’t met yet. Three signed up. Dooley is one. 81 Announcements – 82 Barry announced that he gave his final presentation to the Town of Groton’s Town Board, and they voted 83 unanimously to fund a hydrological study. Barry was congratulated on this good news. 84 Chair and Staff Reports – 85 None. 86 Since there was no quorum, everyone agreed the minute approval would have to wait until the next 87 meeting Dooley caught a typo on line 60 of page two. 88 Adjournment -- The meeting adjourned at 5:26 PM. Marjorie made a motion to adjourn. Lynn 89 seconded. All in favor. 90 Respectfully submitted, 91 Pam Pariso, Secretary 92 Tompkins County Planning Department 93 Approved by Council on July 18, 2016 94 95